News Photos
Search Advanced Sign in / Register fans
 
GENERAL    
 

Advertisement

UN condemns Israel-Hezbollah violations
By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press
2009-11-07 05:31 AM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned recent violations of the 2006 cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and urged both sides to exercise "maximum restraint."

In a report to the Security Council circulated Friday, Ban said he was particularly concerned about the firing of rockets from Lebanon into Israel, the discovery of an arms and ammunition depot in southern Lebanon, and explosions and a fire in that area which are still under investigation.

The secretary-general reiterated his call for full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 that ended the 34-day Israeli-Hezbollah war including the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, adherence to the arms embargo on Lebanon by all countries, especially those with ties to Hezbollah, demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border, and an end to Israeli overflights.

Ban also called on Israel and Syria to respond to the provisional definition of the disputed Chebaa Farms area on Lebanon's border with Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and urged Israel to withdraw from the disputed village of Ghajar and an adjacent area that are on the Lebanese side of a U.N.-drawn boundary "without delay."

While the situation in the southern Lebanon area where the U.N.'s more than 13,000-strong peacekeeping force operates "remained generally quiet," the secretary-general expressed "serious concern" at a series of recent incidents and condemned all violations of the cease-fire resolution.

He singled out the firing of rockets into Israel on Sept. 11 and Oct. 27 _ the fourth and fifth such attacks from Lebanon in 2009 _ which Israel responded to with artillery fire, and the discovery of an arms and ammunition depot in a building under the control of Hezbollah on July 14.

The secretary-general also expressed concern at an incident on Oct. 12 involving a fire, possibly caused by an explosion, in the garage of a residential building in Tayr Falsay owned by a Hezbollah official. He said some items were moved to a nearby village before U.N. peacekeepers and the Lebanese army arrived.

Later, "UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces inspected both locations but found no signs of an explosion or of unauthorized arms and ammunitions at either of the two locations," Ban said. "It appears, however, that evidence may have been tampered with at both locations."

UNIFIL is also still investigating two explosions in the area between Houla and Meiss el-Jebel on Oct. 17 and Oct. 18, he said.

"Preliminary indications are that the explosions were caused by explosive charges contained in an unattended, underground Israel Defense Forces sensor system," he said.

The secretary-general said UNIFIL and the Lebanese army discovered a battery pack buried in the ground at the same location, which was apparently a third part of the sensor system, and are now trying to establish how and when the device was installed and how it was detonated.

Ban noted that the presence of Israeli devices with explosive charges on Lebanese territory is a violation of resolution 1701.

 
Have Your Say :

We welcome your comments on this and other stories. Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Please provide your full name and suburb/location. We also require a working e-mail address – not for publication, but for verification only.

 
Post your feedback
 
 
 
More Stories
Witness: Demjanjuk's statements inconsistent   2010-02-09
Cambodia wants World Court to rule on Thai border   2010-02-09
Sri Lankan parliament dissolved ahead of new vote   2010-02-09
India halts genetically modified eggplant release   2010-02-09
Auto sales surged 50 percent last month in India   2010-02-09
Stocks climb on hopes for Greece debt assistance   2010-02-09
Schnyder into 2nd round at Open GDF Suez   2010-02-09
India halts release of world's first GM eggplant   2010-02-09
Jan. freeze damaged 4 pct of Florida oranges   2010-02-09
AP Sportlight   2010-02-09
Barcelona defender Abidal out 8 weeks with injury   2010-02-09
Glaxo considering job cuts at UK research center   2010-02-09
Benneteau, Chiudinelli advance at ABN Amro   2010-02-09
64 feared dead, 400 hurt in Afghan avalanches   2010-02-09
German football federation, Loew call truce   2010-02-09
Sri Lanka's president dissolves parliament   2010-02-09
McDonald's sales figure rises 2.6 percent in Jan.   2010-02-09
US insurer says it warned on Toyota in 2007   2010-02-09
Officials: Afghan avalanches may have killed 64   2010-02-09
Sao Paulo signs defender Cicinho on loan from Roma   2010-02-09
 
01     02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   Next   >
 
To search for articles form the past seven days, Click on ARCHIVES
  7day free
 
 
TOP

©2009 Taiwan News All Rights Reserved.